Azul Sensatori Brides - POST HERE!

[jamilaimani]

How long was the process of visiting all the different resorts at the Dress Rehearsal and meeting with the wedding coordinators? Is it an all day event. I only ask because I def want to visit different resorts but I want to still enjoy my time there and get a tan =)  I know there is also a presentation that we have to attend. I am hoping it is only about half a day. We get there late Thursday night and leave early Sunday. The presentation is Saturday and Friday we are going to meet with the coordinators at the Dreams Riviera resort. I dont know how I am going to get any relaxation in!

[jsal4]

I have 19 rooms booked and paid my balance to the resort. I know that the resort has a deal going...Groups of 16 to 30 rooms receive: Bride & Groom Stay Free, 20% discount off room rates, 20% discount off private events.

 

I received the 20% discount off the private events and rooms. However does anyone know how the Bride & Groom Stay Free work? I paid the travel agent for my room over 6 months ago. Does the hotel refund me for the room? Any information on this would be really helpful!
 

[JennyBenz]

Hey jsal! The B&G stay free is a bit tricky, not exactly what it seems. From my understanding, the lowest room category & least amount of days booked in your wedding party will be what's deducted from your total stay. So, if even 1 guest booked lowest cat. room and stays only 3 nights, that is what you'd be credited. So if you're staying longer & in a higher category, they'll deduct the total from what you paid. According to my travel agent, about 2 weeks prior to the departure date, the resort will review total rooms booked & refund you what's owed.

 

Hope this helps =)

Originally Posted by jsal4 

I have 19 rooms booked and paid my balance to the resort. I know that the resort has a deal going...Groups of 16 to 30 rooms receive: Bride & Groom Stay Free, 20% discount off room rates, 20% discount off private events.

 

I received the 20% discount off the private events and rooms. However does anyone know how the Bride & Groom Stay Free work? I paid the travel agent for my room over 6 months ago. Does the hotel refund me for the room? Any information on this would be really helpful!
 

[JennyBenz]

hey! so sorry I haven't replied- it's been a crazy few weeks! Yes, we actually stayed at Azul Fives and went to the Dorado for the rehearsal [as we were told]. But then, they had changed it last minute without notice to Azul Beach. So while we were there we checked it out quickly before we were whisked away to the AB. We also arranged transportation to go see the Sensatori & a few other non-Azul resorts. It's well worth it to go see whichever ones you may be interested in. After seeing the Beach, we weren't sure if we needed to go see the AS & others. But so glad we did, b/c the AB wasn't available for any dates and the Sensatori wound up being perfect in every way for our big day!! To all of the Karisma resorts, they'll set you up with transportation for free! And it will be an amazing trip. As soon as we arrived for the rehearsal, we were treated like king & queen throughout our entire stay! Enjoy it, can't wait to hear your feedback upon your return!

Originally Posted by jamilaimani 

Thank You so much JennyBenz!  I cant wait to go visit so we can make the final decision. We are also going to visit Azul Beach.  When you went were you able to visit the El Dorado Resorts? We are also thinking about El Dorado Maroma and Casitas for our Honeymoon and would like to go see them while we are down there. 

[JennyBenz]

Hello ladies!!!! It's been awhile since I've posted on here! Hope all of your planning is going well =)

I just wanted to send a quick update- We got our invitations! Although our STD's were DIY, I couldn't find the time & means to do 200 passport invitations myself! LOL

So, I found a fabulous vendor on Etsy who was amazing to work with, and had them within 5 weeks [btw she was 8 months preggo!!] So in awe of them, they are everything I'd hoped for!

I'll be posting a picture soon to share with all of you =) 

 

So, I'm sure many of you remember a few of my rants about my ex-WC [who has since then been let go]. I'm glad to say my new planner, Lynda, is amazing!!! She's helped me fix all the kinks & although I have to stick with the "unexpected" locations for the wedding day, I'm thrilled by her responsiveness & efficiency. Now, I'm in a slump b/c I have nothing else to do until we start receiving RSVP's. I want to order decorations, centerpieces, OOT bags, etc. but I'd rather wait to know how many guests we'll be having. It's looking like anywhere from 75 to 100+ guests, so it would be costly to order multiple times & not enough or too much! I'm sure many of you feel the same way right now with weddings next year!

 

TTYL!

[ELAINENYC]

Originally Posted by jamilaimani 

 

How long was the process of visiting all the different resorts at the Dress Rehearsal and meeting with the wedding coordinators? Is it an all day event. I only ask because I def want to visit different resorts but I want to still enjoy my time there and get a tan =)  I know there is also a presentation that we have to attend. I am hoping it is only about half a day. We get there late Thursday night and leave early Sunday. The presentation is Saturday and Friday we are going to meet with the coordinators at the Dreams Riviera resort. I dont know how I am going to get any relaxation in!

 Where are you staying? I stayed at Azul Sensatori and had my presentation at ED Royale.  I met with the coordinate at AS on Friday and the site tour did not take long (max 2hrs) but my FI and I opted to relax  by the pool for the rest of the day on Friday, so shame on us for not wanting to visit the other Karimsa resorts. Also, we were able to get reservations to try out Le Chique on Friday night so this was a plus! On Sat, we went to ED royale for our presentation which took about 4 hours (i think..it was definitely long). They give a detailed presentation on all of Karisma hotels and the differences between all of them and they go through the wedding packages and you do the food tasting and dessert tasting. After that we did a site tour of ED Royale and then went over to Azul Beach And Azul Fives. By the time we were done it was around 7 (i think)...sorry exact details are a big foggy b/c it was about 12-13 months ago...

 

If you want to visit a lot of the different resorts, you will most likely need to spread them out between Friday and Saturday. I really do not think you will be able to do the presentation on Saturday and visit all of the places unless you only want to do a 2-3 other site tours. In that case you should be able to squeeze all of that in on Saturday. 

 

But as soon as you arrive on Thursday, let them know which places you want to visit and they will help you plan it out and arrange for the transportation.

[ELAINENYC]

 Hey Jenny! Can't wait to see your passport invitations. I am sure they look fabulous!

 

Wow! You sure have a HUGE group going. That is awesome! I have 58 people going and I think that is a lot. I can't imagine trying to do oot bags and coordinating for 75 - 100+ guests! ENJOY the down time b/c it will be over before you know it! lol. I'm less than 2 months away and def stressing a bit. Trying to get the music and OOT bags done by the end of this month. Wish I could just take off work for a week and just focus on planning... lol

 

 

Originally Posted by JennyBenz 

Hello ladies!!!! It's been awhile since I've posted on here! Hope all of your planning is going well =)

I just wanted to send a quick update- We got our invitations! Although our STD's were DIY, I couldn't find the time & means to do 200 passport invitations myself! LOL

So, I found a fabulous vendor on Etsy who was amazing to work with, and had them within 5 weeks [btw she was 8 months preggo!!] So in awe of them, they are everything I'd hoped for!

I'll be posting a picture soon to share with all of you =) 

 

So, I'm sure many of you remember a few of my rants about my ex-WC [who has since then been let go]. I'm glad to say my new planner, Lynda, is amazing!!! She's helped me fix all the kinks & although I have to stick with the "unexpected" locations for the wedding day, I'm thrilled by her responsiveness & efficiency. Now, I'm in a slump b/c I have nothing else to do until we start receiving RSVP's. I want to order decorations, centerpieces, OOT bags, etc. but I'd rather wait to know how many guests we'll be having. It's looking like anywhere from 75 to 100+ guests, so it would be costly to order multiple times & not enough or too much! I'm sure many of you feel the same way right now with weddings next year!

 

TTYL!

[murmel]

Originally Posted by ELAINENYC 

 

Murmel - AS ALWAYS...YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER!!!!!!!! Thank you soo much. It is definitely very helpful. I have been going crazy the last couple of weeks trying to figure this part out. I know I still have 2 months but I feel like I still have so much to do..AHHH!!! Working on OOT Bags and music this month and next month is my headpiece, bridal sash/belt and any other last minute things I may have forgotten.

 

I am having a welcome dinner the night before the wedding at Spoon, so all of my guests can get to know each other. Did you (or any other brides) play music during this (assuming you had a welcome dinner).  Not sure if its necessary since everyone will be talking? Thoughts?

 

Thanks again!

Glad I can help Elaine! As for music at Spoon- there is background music. But you will not be able to play your own music. I don't think it's a big deal, everyone will be busy talking anyway!

Originally Posted by ELAINENYC 

 

Ahh...thanks for the info. Good to know no music at Spoon...one less thing I need to think about.

 

Question on Groomsmen gifts - Do you get them all the same gift? Or is it a big no no to give them different gifts? A couple of guys I know would really appreciate watches and a couple of guys would really appreicate a mini bourbon barrel and a couple of other guys would appreciate a shaving set.  My FI and were thinking of giving them gifts based on what we think they would like and their personalities. Is this ok?  

The personalized gifts is a wonderful idea! Just make sure they are about the same value-just so that there are no hard feelings. (ie. someone gets a $100 watch and someone gets a $40 pen).

[kathryn83]

Originally Posted by jamilaimani 

 

Thank You Kathryn. Which design did you use? I like the tropical boarding pass but it is $9+ per invite. I am starting to think I am going to have to do a DIY boarding pass invite. I have seen some done on this site and they turned out really great. It just seems so time consuming.

 

Yes, that what we used, but it is $3.90 per invite. http://shop.serendipitybeyonddesign.com/tropical-boarding-pass-with-sleeve-save-the-date/ We put "An Invitation" on the sleeve instead of Save the Date. I think ours ended up being about $4.50 per invite because I had her print return addresses and address the envelopes for me. I got so many compliments on the suite, too.

[kathryn83]

Originally Posted by JennyBenz 

 

Hello ladies!!!! It's been awhile since I've posted on here! Hope all of your planning is going well =)

I just wanted to send a quick update- We got our invitations! Although our STD's were DIY, I couldn't find the time & means to do 200 passport invitations myself! LOL

So, I found a fabulous vendor on Etsy who was amazing to work with, and had them within 5 weeks [btw she was 8 months preggo!!] So in awe of them, they are everything I'd hoped for!

I'll be posting a picture soon to share with all of you =) 

 

So, I'm sure many of you remember a few of my rants about my ex-WC [who has since then been let go]. I'm glad to say my new planner, Lynda, is amazing!!! She's helped me fix all the kinks & although I have to stick with the "unexpected" locations for the wedding day, I'm thrilled by her responsiveness & efficiency. Now, I'm in a slump b/c I have nothing else to do until we start receiving RSVP's. I want to order decorations, centerpieces, OOT bags, etc. but I'd rather wait to know how many guests we'll be having. It's looking like anywhere from 75 to 100+ guests, so it would be costly to order multiple times & not enough or too much! I'm sure many of you feel the same way right now with weddings next year!

 

TTYL!

 

The slump is the worst part. We set our RSVP deadline as Oct. 1 and still have 47 people who haven't responded -- that's the bulk of the list! I am itching to start on the OOT bags, but can't justify ordering over/under, just like you! Refresh my memory on your location issue -- that doesn't sound non-stressful!